Harry Potter And The Cursed Child Play To Be Published As A Book, Get The Details

Those Harry Potter fans who won’t be able to make it to London to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre won’t be completely out of luck. It was announced today that the play will be published as a script book, to be released not long after the show opens.

Developed by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is set as a sequel to the Harry Potter books, and is officially considered to be the eighth story in the Harry Potter canon, centering on Harry’s son. Pottermore announced today that a Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 & 2 will be published both digitally and in print, to be released after the play makes its world premiere this summer. Though Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will begin previews more than a month ahead of that, the official premiere is set for Saturday, July 30 (the day before Harry Potter’s birthday, it’s well worth noting), so the book’s release will presumably happen sometime after that.

Pottermore says the script that’s featured in the "Rehearsal Edition" book will be the one used at the time of the preview performances. As it’s possible and even likely that lines will be tinkered with and changed as the two-part play prepares for its official premiere, the “Special Rehearsal Edition” of the script book will eventually be replaced by a Definitive Collector’s Edition. Release info on that one will come at a later date.

This is particularly exciting news for those Harry Potter fans eager to get their hands on this hugely anticipated Harry Potter sequel. As intriguing as it is that the story will be told on stage — a different approach from the usual books and movies we’re used to — it does drastically limit the audience, given the the play is only being performed in one location. Further limiting the audience, tickets are sold out through 2017. Reading the story in script-form will be a different experience from what fans are used to, but the published script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will allow fans to experience the full story as it was written, as opposed to having to mine the internet for spoilers.

Directed by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will star Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Paul Thornily, and is set to take place following the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, some 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts. From the description, we know that Harry is still dealing with “a past that refuses to stay where it belongs,” while his youngest son, Albus, struggles with his unwanted family legacy.

Knowing that this story is adding to the canon of J.K. Rowling’s magical Harry Potter universe, fans have every reason to be excited about this play, as it’s not only a new story set in this world, but it will also give us more information about what’s become of the boy who lived.

Amazon already has the Kindle Edition of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child available for pre-order. The release date listed is July 31, 2016.